Page 35 of Fated Alpha Baby

I pat his shoulder and sigh again. “For being a dick.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”

Chuckling nervously, I run a hand through my hair and turn back to the sunset. “I’m just realizing a lot of things lately.”

“Does this have to do with Hannah Young?”

I take a deep breath before replying, “Yes.”

Simon nods thoughtfully. “I remember how distraught you were when you found out she’d left the pack. It must be a relief that you found her now.”

“Yeah, and a child she had with someone else. You know, she won’t even tell me his name?”

“Does it matter?”

I shake my head slowly, shoving my hands into my pockets. “No. I guess not,” I groan. “But it’s so frustrating. She did me dirty, Simon. And now fate has given us another chance, and she’s acting like I’m the one who hurt her. It’s like she hates me, and I can’t understand why. I didn’t even do anything wrong.”

“So maybe you need to speak to her. Ask her why. Have you tried that?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, she’s in your house. That’s a start.”

“I guess you’re right.” I pat Simon’s shoulder. “Have I told you that you’re a good beta?”

Simon grins. “Not nearly enough. But I’m trying to be a good friend, too.”

“Well, you’re the best.”

***

Simon’s pep talk seems to lift my spirits, and by the time I arrive home on my side of the mansion, I’m ready to have a proper heart-to-heart with Hannah.

We can’t leave things the way they are right now. I’ll be damned if I have to spend the rest of my life with her while she hates me for no apparent reason. I don’t understand why she’s so resentful of me. Perhaps it’s because she felt like I forced the marriage on her. But surely, she knows she’s my fated mate, and we’re destined to be together.

Unless I really meant nothing to her.

It’s hard to wrap my head around it when I felt her passion the night in her cabin. But eight years is a long time, and things have clearly changed.

“Hannah…?” I call out quietly when I enter the kitchen. The lingering aroma of butter hangs in the air, and I notice the dishes in the sink.

At least she made use of the kitchen, which means she hasn’t decided to uproot herself and her daughter from my house.

I’m just about to go off in search of her in the bedroom quarters when another scent catches my airways, and I’m stopped in my tracks, frozen on the spot, recognizing the scent as if my inner wolf is looking into a mirror.

My senses become alert, goosebumps erupting across my forearms as if the mate bond that gently hums beneath my flesh has burst through my pores. My heartbeat slows down—slow enough for me to hear it, along with every other intricate beat in the house, and across the valley. The birds chirping, the wind whispering, the river coursing steadily through its banks.

And then there’s another sound. Gentler. Familiar.

The sound of a pattering heart, thumping with life. My feet move of their own accord, carrying me toward that sound as each step I take follows the rhythm of that heartbeat. I’m too intoxicated by the familiar scent to make much sense of what I’m doing, where I’m going.

And all I can think about, all I can see, is Hannah.

I’m led up the stairs, following the breadcrumb trail of wolf scent and lavender with a hint of mint. The last note only reaches my airways when I’m outside Clarissa’s bedroom door, and I pause, my hand hovering at the gold metal knob.

Hannah must be tucking Clarissa in, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to go inside right now. We need privacy to speak, but the urge to go inside is too strong to resist. Too primal. It’s a force that I cannot fight, my heart pounding, chest aching, inner wolf desperate to be close.

But when I open the door, it isn’t Hannah I find.